[13th-30th October 2023]

We board our two-leg flight to Mahón via Barcelona, with Vueling – our luggage is scheduled to go all the way through, though Vueling is quite famous for losing people’s cases, apparently.

We are in Row 2, and Row 1 in front of us has only a single occupant – a fairly rough-looking middle-aged man.  As soon as we are seated, he starts looking at some nonsense videos on his phone, with the sound at full volume.  “Well, that’s not annoying!” observes Fiona, tartly.  A female steward leans over and asks him very politely to turn the volume down.

As she turns away, he quite audibly refers to her as a coño (lady’s front bottom).  This is not as strong a swear word in Spanish as it is in English, but it’s very rude and insulting nonetheless.  She maintains her cool professionalism, even serving him with a request for coffee as we begin our descent into Barcelona.

I resolve to accidentally whack him in the head with my bag when I take it down from the overhead locker.  Sadly, the opportunity does not present itself.  As soon as the front cabin door is open, he pushes past a woman, who is trying to coral four small children on her own, so he can be first off the plane. Un coño indeed Señor!

Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat is an airport whose size justifies the length of its name.  However, as luck would have it, we have alighted at a gate quite close to our departure gate for Mahón, so trekking about this vast airport is happily minimised.  When we land in Menorca and pick up our hire car at the airport car park, the only problem is that we can’t get out through the electric exit barrier – there’s a first time for everything.

When you come to a place as often as we do to Menorca, it’s sometimes challenging to think of something new to write about.  We visit a lot of our favourite places, and one or two new ones but, even though we’ve been coming here regularly since Kathleen was just over a year old, we can honestly say that we never tire of what the island, and La Gardenia, have to offer.

The La Gardenia complex is looking superb, with every building, alcove, and wall newly whitewashed.  The swimming pool, subject to a number of problems earlier in the year, is back to its best, and the gardens – partially dug up in the spring – are also now looking in excellent fettle.  The general pathway lighting problems have been remedied and the Owners’ Meeting has agreed to some welcome improvements, not least proper disabled access to this complex of 50 apartments.

The interior of our wee apartment is pristine and sparkling white, thanks to the hard work of Brian and Joanne in the springtime, and we even have air conditioning now, which is very effective.

On the evening of our first full day, we go for a superb meal at our favourite restaurant – Sa Punta, at the mouth of the well-preserved Mediterranean harbour of Calas Fonts.  After our dinner, we make the easy 20-minute walk back home through Santa Ana to Sol del Este.  By the time I get back to the apartment, I am so exhausted I can hardly speak.  I lie down on the couch and fall asleep for two hours.  I then get up and go to bed but cannot sleep again till 5:30 am.

Turns out I have caught Covid, despite having been vaccinated a mere two weeks before we left on our trip.  Fiona, being younger, wasn’t eligible to get the vaccine yet, and so inevitably she unfortunately follows suit a couple of days after me. We both feel like we have a bad head cold and that we are physically drained, but thankfully not very unwell – it’s almost a year to the day since we both came down with the virus for the first time during Trip Number Three.

We try to act responsibly and spend our time either in the apartment – it’s torrential rain for the next two days – or sitting in the rear garden looking out to sea, once the weather improves.  One thing that the enforced idleness facilitates is time to think about and appreciate one’s immediate surroundings and the wider appeal of this corner of Menorca in particular.

We look out towards the slightly mysterious island of Lazareto, where victims of the plague were quarantined, behind the island’s imposingly high walls.  Further in the background is the vast deserted 19^th Century Fortress of Elizabeth II (La Mola), which contained one of Spain’s most feared prisons as late as 1974.

To our left, past the pretty inlet of Cala Pedrera, is the mouth of Calas Fonts, surely one of the best-preserved fishing harbours in the Mediterranean, with just the right balance in terms of amenities such as bars and restaurants. Out of sight beyond Sa Punta is the wonderful Isla del Rey, with its beautifully restored military hospital, the world-renowned Hauser and Wirth Gallery, and Binifadet’s great La Cantina restaurant.

As we sit gazing out onto the approach to the world’s second-largest natural harbour, a succession of small craft, fishing boats, pleasure launches and yachts, large ferries and huge cruise liners glide past the gate in the garden wall.

Ten minutes by road takes us to the city of Mahón, the island’s capital.  Formerly quite a gritty industrial place, the city has reinvented itself as a centre of gastronomy and the arts. 

Megalithic archaeological sites dot the islands, some large and well excavated, others tiny corners of farmers’ fields. The fabulous Hestia Menorca Basquet is, of course, a bonus!

As people are probably tired of hearing, we do try to travel as much as possible, and we have certainly travelled widely around the Mediterranean’s shores and islands over the years.  Nowhere we have visited (and we’ve been to some great places) comes close to the environment, facilities, and interests that Menorca offers, and few can rival La Gardenia in terms of its beauty and its sublime location.

There – got that off my chest.  Perhaps the Menorca Tourist Board should take me onto the staff!

As we begin to emerge from our Covid fug, we decide to go on an outing to somewhere out of doors which is likely to be virtually deserted in the late afternoon, so we head for the Megalithic site of Talati de Dalt – always a favourite of ours.

As we sit on the stone bench looking into the Taula in its stone circle, I feel like I am seeing the world through a net curtain.  Nothing seems quite real, and I’m fascinated when a striking little insect lands on my left thumb.  I draw Fiona’s attention to its unusual beauty.

“Yes” she observes, “that’s one of those Tiger Mosquitos.  You know, the ones that can carry Dengue Fever and other diseases from North Africa.”

If it had started to suck my blood, I don’t know if it could have caught Covid from me, but I didn’t wait around to find out, flicking the little beast briskly in the direction of the stone circle.

We improve day by day and happily we make it to the Pavello de Menorca to watch Hestia Menorca basketball team.  They have been promoted to the LEB Oro (Spanish Second Division) and so far have played 2, and lost 2.  Tonight is a different story, however, and Menorca eventually powers to a 20-point win over Amics Castelló, in front of a raucous crowd of just over 2000.  The noise in the arena is deafening, especially in the immediate aftermath of some decidedly dubious refereeing decisions. Hopefully, the win should help make the team feel that they belong in this elevated league.

We start to get out more, to Es Grau nature reserve and to the Hauser and Wirth Gallery on Isla del Rey, amongst other favourite spots.  The heavy cold symptoms have abated, but we both feel low on energy, especially if walking up any hills is involved.

We spend an afternoon at the (now) huge Megalithic site of Torre de’n Gaumes, which looks out over the south coast of the island.  It’s years since I’ve been here and the place has been much more extensively excavated since then.  The day is a perfect one – mid-20s without a cloud in the sky, but with a breeze from the sea stopping it from getting too hot.  Perfect photography conditions too!

For our final meal out its back to Sa Punta in Calas Fonts. On the way there the taxi driver points out the full moon hanging above Lazareto Island.  Sa Punta has managed to arrange a partial eclipse (12%) of the Moon, about halfway through our dinner – everyone troops out onto the terrace to admire the phenomenon and take photos.

We manage to meet up with our friend Jean, who is now resident on the island, a couple of times before it’s time to pack up and head for home – the cold, dark days of an Edinburgh winter beckon.

Trip Number Four has felt a bit like an assault course at times, given my health issues over the summer and the fact that we both caught Covid whilst we were here.  However, it has been well worth doing – we’ve seen and experienced some great new places, as well as revisiting Granada and Jerez in much more depth than our previous shorter visits allowed.

It has also been a book tour, after a fashion, as I’ve taken a paperback copy of my book, published back in April, along with us and I’ve taken it’s photo in each location.  The eagle-eyed amongst you may notice a similarity between the book’s cover image and the La Gardenia pool in the photo gallery below. It has always been a bit of a dream of mine to write a book, that people (even if only a very few people!) buy a copy of, which they then read as they lie by the pool on their own holidays.  So, I’ll finish with a pic taken by an old friend Rae Ritchie of hubby Stewart doing just that earlier this year – thanks folks, for making an old man very happy!

My dozen favourite images from our stay in Sol del Este are included in the gallery below. Click on a thumbnail to see a bigger image. If you’re using a mobile phone, turn your screen sideways to see the bigger image to best effect.

Image Gallery